HI Ladies-

I'm going through the approval process and just collecting as much info, knowledge and wisdom I can get before having surgery.

Simple question...how has having WLS (gastric sleeve in particular) affected your monthly cycles, pms and everything that comes with AF?

I'm post op one month exactly. Before surgery I rarely got a period, I'm talking one or two times a YEAR. When I got home from the hospital, I got my period the very next day. As if the first week post op isn't terrible enough! Well, 4 weeks have gone by and guess what I got today. I couldn't believe it. I've never had a regular cycle.. and I never realized how much I liked it that way lol. Who knows how this will change though, I know I'm very early in this process.

My period started immediately after surgery, about three days earlier than expected, and the cramps were intense. I don't know if it was merely coincidental or if was due to my period, but on the second one post-surgery I developed unpleasant stomach problems that persisted for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, after that it all improved significantly. I'd been taking a high dose of spironaldactone for PCOS since college, and very gradually went off before the surgery because it was causing my blood pressure to be too low. I was also experiencing other side effects and in general wanted to get off it (as did my endocrinologist). I thought that it might wreak havoc on my cycles, but they're actually more regular than during the years I was taking it. It comes every 26 days now like clockwork. I use the iPeriod app to track it. I do have more pain on the first day than in the past, but then it eases up.

No change.

Clemintine Sky,

It's interesting that you mention spironaldactone. My period actually stopped after being on that med for a few months. So, now I am thinking it was the medication and not the surgery that caused my period to stop. I'm still taking the medication because it helps me to have clear skin. It's been a year since my last period and I am 38. I don't know if stopping the medication would bring my period back or not. The doctor says that I don't have enough fat on my body to produce estrogen, which would bring on a menstrual cycle.

I went 1 and 1/2 years without a period. My gynecologist did blood work in September that showed I was in early menopause. (I'm 43) The week before my sleeve in December I had a period! I was shocked. Anyway, since then I've had 2 more period exactly 28 days apart... I'm so bummed. It was nice not having periods. I truly hope they stop again. I've always had horrible cramps that only got better with ibuprofen, which now after surgery I'm not supposed to take. So it's pretty miserable having periods again....

I just had my revision the ninth and started my period today. It's 9 days early but it will be interesting to track it for a bit.